So I happen to have a cat of my own, but why not tap into the resource that is Creative Commons to share a photo of a different cat!
Now some of you may be saying “pause,”…. or “paws.” Because not everyone may know what Creative Commons is, or why a website about nostalgia is sharing a stock photo of a cat while trying to explain the source material.
Creative Commons is a community-based nonprofit platform that allows creators like me to use and share content (both audio and visual) for free. Beyond being a community, it’s also a legal framework that includes varying degrees of licensing and permissions.
For instance, a Creative Commons Attribution license, or CC BY, allows someone to reuse and adapt an image, including for commercial reasons, as long as they credit its creator.
Other licenses have additional conditions, such as limiting reuse to noncommercial purposes.
Sorry to rain on the parade (cats hate rain) but, finding a photo online does not automatically mean it is available to use, so checking its license matters.
So as to hold myself accountable, the license for this photo is “stray cat” by strollers is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
I have not changed this photo in any way!
See, giving the photographer credit is one part of responsible publishing. Making the image accessible is another.
This is part of what’s called “universal design” (UD), which means creating something that as many people as possible can use, and accessibility is right at the heart of it. In a website sense, UD can guide a designer’s (like me)choices ranging from readable text to accessible images.
For this photo of the cute cat, that means adding descriptive alternative text, or alt text, which screen readers can read.
This means instead of simply writing “hey look, it’s a cat,” the description should explain the relevant details, including what the cat looks like and what it is doing.
That way, more readers can enjoy this brief feline interruption before we return to our regularly scheduled nostalgia.
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